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【Learn Chinese】How to express Birthday wishes in Chinese
 
Everybody loves birthdays, and China is no exception. So how do you say “happy birthday” in Chinese and how are birthdays celebrated in China, anyway?
The easiest way to say “happy birthday” in Chinese is 生日快乐, or “shēngrì kuàilè” in pinyin. The first part of this expression is 生日 (shēngrì) which means “birthday,” and the second is 快乐 (kuàilè) which means “happy.”
At times, you might also hear Chinese people wishing each other a happy birthday by saying “祝你生日快乐” (zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè). This slightly more complex expression, which makes use of the characters 祝 (zhù) and 你 (nǐ), meaning “wish” and “you,” is just another way to say “happy birthday.” Translated literally, it says, “Wish you birthday happy.”
 
How Do You Sing the “Happy Birthday” Song in Chinese?
After learning to say “happy birthday” in Chinese, you might be wondering whether it’s common to sing the happy birthday song in China and if so, how to sing it.
Although there was no tradition of singing the happy birthday song in the past, both the tradition and the melody of this familiar song have been borrowed from the West and singing it at birthday parties is now quite popular.
If you’ve mastered the phrase, “祝你生日快乐” (zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè), you already know everything you’ll need to sing the happy birthday song! All you need to do is sing “zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè” four times to the tune of the familiar English-language birthday song.

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